The Mayor of Ross, Councillor John Edwards, was at Ross Heritage Centre on Thursday, January 28th to present the prizes to the winners of the Age Concern Seasonal Scribbles competition.

Competitors were asked to submit a poem or short story on the subject of A Taste of Christmas for the Age Concern Ross-on-Wye and District's second Seasonal Scribbles Christmas Writing competition.

First prize went to Margaret Wilce for her piece Wartime Christmas Memories with Barbara Burden taking second prize for A Christmas Poem, and Stephanie Presee winning the third prize for Mulled Love. Colemans Stationers, Ross Books, and Field Fayre kindly donated prizes which the Mayor, John Edwards presented to the winners.

Now in its second year the competition is even more popular and the entries are of a very high standard. Mary Powell of the Heritage Centre, who was one of the judges, has copies of all the entries for the past two years on display in the Centre for people to read if they wish.

Two Age Concern projects, the Rural Enabling and Accessing Programme (REAP), funded by Age Concern England, and the Step Across Project, funded by The Big Lottery, worked together to launch the competition. The projects aim to strengthen community links in Ross and the surrounding rural area through a variety of activities. These currently include five exercise groups in the Ross area and the Visage social club.

For information about Age Concern and the services they offer, please call 01989 567165.